O'Malley Pushes Ambitious Agenda in Maryland State of the State

1/30/2013, 4:59 p.m.

O'Malley also called Maryland's traffic the worst in the country and vowed to help bring the state's transportation network into the 21st century.

He applauded Maryland's students, educators and school support staff, calling attention to the state's fifth consecutive annual ranking by Education Week as the top public school system in the country.

"This jobs budget invests to improve public education and to build new schools," O'Malley said. "It accelerates the transition from chalk and textbooks in our classrooms, to iPads, laptops, smart-boards, and 21st century digital learning tools."

As O'Malley, 50, enters the back half of his second term as governor, major speeches like the State of the State address take on added significance. O'Malley, who chairs the Democratic Governors Association and was prominently featured at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, is widely believed to have national political aspirations.

His name has been mentioned along with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as possible 2016 candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination.

"Today wasn't just a State of the State speech, it was an 'I want your (presidential) nomination' speech," Eberly said.